


A Change of Pace

by Doukz



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Confrontation, M/M, Memories, can be read as good friends, fight, shipping is kind of subtle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 23:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16544258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doukz/pseuds/Doukz
Summary: (Chapter 5 material included)Henry Stein decides that after a slight divergence from Sammy's usual actions in the last cycle, he's going to try reaching out to the music director.





	A Change of Pace

**Author's Note:**

> Written after chapter 5 - contains the cycle/loop theory!!  
> (basically the theory that Henry is going through multiple cycles through the studio, over and over again)  
> Written as practice, but it's gone through a rewrite- not polished and pristine though!  
> (some paragraphs might not indent properly)

The rotten wood creaked noisily as the man made his way down the hallway. He clenched his fist around an axe he’d made sure to bring this time around. He wasn’t even entirely sure why he kept letting himself lose it, except for when it was forced from him of course, but he’d been careful this time around. Not every chance did he get to keep his memories after all.

                Henry was covered in inky stains that had gone far past ruining his white button up shirt. He vaguely remembered having gone one cycle through this hell with only the intent of keeping it clean… Damn, he must have been bored. _And stupid._

                His steps were loud as he walked towards the doorway. Maybe he’d be lucky enough to catch him this time? Who knew. For this cycle, however, his only goal was to try something new. Spread the word. He’d tried before but… After the last time he’d given up. Everyone forgot everything. But then something new had happened. When he’d been knocked out, his old friend… Had almost remembered him. He was so close! It had given him enough motivation to try reaching out again, if for nothing else than a change of pace.

                Because a change of pace was really what he needed. He tightened his grip on the axe handle as he heard footsteps. He instinctively wanted to stop, wait for him to pass, and go on, but instead he made a mad dash for the door. _You’re not getting away this time_ -!

                The familiar black humanoid figure began walking past the doorway, Bendy cutout tucked under his arm. Henry could remember every detail at this point. He wanted to form words, but what would he even say? Surely he still responded to his name, but would that deter him? _No matter_ , Henry thought bitterly as he almost reached the doorway.  The creature paid him no notice, no, _NO-_

                “Sammy-!” he blurt out, nearly lunging for the inky monster. His hand hit air. “Damnit!” he cursed himself. He hit the wall with his fist. He eyed the Bendy cutout Sammy left behind, turned towards the room in the same way it always. A newfound anger took over the man as he slashed through it with his weapon.

                Nothing had changed.

 

               

Nothing changing was what led Henry to believe that maybe, just maybe, he’d have a chance at fighting back. He’d stepped slowly into the room, quietly. He knew Sammy was behind him the whole time, but he didn’t bother looking back. He needed the element of surprise- and surely the creature would have simply slipped into the inky as he seemed so good at doing.

So, he counted slowly, one… He had to get the timing right. His body screamed for him to move now, but he forced himself still. Two… He could practically feel Sammy behind him. He knew he was a few inches taller than the inky creature, so if he dodged the right way… Three- he lurched forward suddenly, the air behind him whistling with the sound of a weapon in the air.

Henry twisted around immediately. Sammy stood still for only a moment before regaining his composure.  He then made his way towards the taller man, holding the butt of his axe out to attack. Of course, he wanted nothing more than to knock his sacrifice out.

“Sam- shit!” Henry sputtered as he ducked to avoid Sammy’s reckless swinging. “Shit, stop-“ he aimed his own axe at another incoming swing, hardly managing to stop the attack. Damn, his body was too worn out for this shit!

Sammy said nothing as he continued to attack. “Please listen to me Sammy!” Henry shouted. There was no response with the next swing. God damn you and your gift, Henry thought bitterly, when you get focused you tune the whole world out.

But that didn’t stop him from trying to reach his old coworker. “Please, Sam, I know what you want! We can talk this out!” he pleaded. He swore he heard laughter from behind the chipped Bendy mask. Impatience swelled up inside him. If he failed now he wouldn’t be able to just respawn, he’d be knocked out cold and forced to progress through the cycle- for once in his life Henry wished Sammy had been out to kill him- just like he said he would every time he got angry during the studio’s working times!

As he fought tirelessly with the swifter monster he realized there would be no letting up unless he managed to take down the monster. He considered taking his mask off, but… No. That would just make Sammy angry- and not in a good way. In the “I’m going to kill you myself, only after I beat your ass to hell” kind of way.

“D-Don’t you remember me? I was your old coworker!” Henry yelled. He saw Sammy cringe- was that a good sign? Or had he just been too loud…

Sammy slowed down as he began to circle Henry. “You’re a fast little lamb. My Lord should be most pleased~” he purred as he tapped the axe in his hand. “Then, I’ll be free. We… We’ll all be free. Free from these, these-“ his shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh.

“Sammy, there’s… “ Henry coughed,  he wasn’t sure what to say. “Bendy isn’t going to help you. I’ve seen what he… What he does to you.” With that the inky blot’s head snapped upwards.

“How _dare_ you insult him like that!” he lunged for Henry. In an instant Sammy had his axe aimed and brought it down on the animator’s shoulder harshly. Henry cried out in pain as it made his arm almost impossible, his hand aching and- _shit_ \- dropped his axe.  

“S-Sammy please that’s not what I mean- Ack!” he was suddenly kneed in the gut. Oh no, oh no I’m gonna fall I have to- Henry reached out and grabbed Sammy’s arm as he felt himself being taken by gravity. He landed hard on his head, the pounding in his head suddenly taking over a lot of his attention. _I was trying to avoid another concussion damn it_ , he thought sourly. Sammy landed on top of him

He was surprised when Sammy didn’t immediately knock the daylights out of him. Instead, he shifted his weight so that he wasn’t holding Henry down- he must have noticed how weak and out of it the animator was after that fall.

Sammy waited a few moments, tapping his mask’s chin. He then turned to look at Henry, who was too far gone to actually move at this point. He simply settled for glaring daggers at Sammy for his new headache. His vision swam as the room tilted. Oh god I’m gonna puke…

“… Go on.” He said after considering his thoughts. Henry eyed him, mouth slightly ajar.

“What?”

“I… I’m interested. I don’t know how you know my name, and I’m… Curious.” The ink creature seemed reluctant to admit it as he pointedly looked away, resting his head in his hand.

“Oh, I say your name fifty times and now you’re interested? For fuck’s sake Sam-“

“I remember being called that.” Sammy said abruptly. “By a friend.”

Henry nearly passed out then and there out of pure shock. “Sam? Y-You really remember being called that?”

                “Yes. Why would I lie about that?”

                “N-No it’s not that, I… I didn’t think you’d remember that! Um, okay, how do I word this…” Henry inhaled sharply. Sammy had made himself comfortable holding him down by literally fucking sitting on him, legs curled, pant legs tucked into Henry’s side. It kind of hurt Henry, but he didn’t say anything about it. “I was your old coworker, and a close friend. I think, anyways,” he laughed nervously. Sammy didn’t seem to have a reaction. “Who, uh… Who do you remember?” he asked hesitantly. What if… What if nothing had changed? He was scared to find out that Sammy didn’t recognize him and that this whole thing was fruitless, so he edged into the situation slowly. His mind was blurry though, and he worried that he might lose consciousness soon.

                Sammy spoke up after a few long moments. “You… Look familiar, but I can’t say I remember you at all. But there’s Susie, of course. Charming woman. Allison had a beautiful voice… N… Newman? No, Norman. He was something. W-Wally was a good kid and… J… John…? No… Jo…” the inky man’s sentence began to fade off as he recalled the last bits of his memory. Henry sighed, tears starting to prick in his eyes. All this effort probably wasted…

                “…Do you remember who called you Sam? You know you only let certain people do that. You practically killed anyone else.” Henry huffed a strained laugh. Yeah, he was definitely beginning to black out. Was he bleeding? His arms felt like lead- he was far too tired to check right now.

                Sammy eyed Henry closely. “My Lord has no need for information like this, why would you?”

                “Because I- Sammy, I don’t care what he thinks. I care what you think.”

                He flinched as the inky music director seemed to become frustrated and looked ready to strike. “I- my lord is-“ he grabbed his head with one hand. It looked like he was fending off a headache.

                “My lord is gracious. I’m… Sure he wouldn’t mind me talking to his little lamb.” He nodded. Henry could’ve sworn it sounded like he was just trying to convince himself of that more than anything.

                “I... My memory is fuzzy. Not as blurred as some of the other sheep, but… Not entirely… There. I remember someone, or maybe a few faces. Imperfect creatures, pale skin, deadlines… Petty things.”

“Okay but, what about the people there? Anyone in… Particular?” Henry still grasped to what little hope he had left.

Sammy shook his head. “It’s all a blur. I didn’t need these memories, so I lost them. Susie was a… Blonde and Allison wore a… Ponytail. Like now. Thomas… Was cranky-“

Henry couldn’t help himself, and burst into a small fit of laughter and coughing. “Hehe- yeah, I can believe that’s what you remember. You both were though.” Sammy only deadpanned.

He cleared his throat after a while and went on. “Nevertheless- wait.” He looked back at Henry’s face. Shifting himself so he could get a better look, he studied the man suddenly very close for comfort. Henry just stared back, both confused, weirded out and annoyed at the same time. And tired, oh god was he tired. The music director didn’t bother backing away though as he took a hand and brushed Henry’s hair out of his face. A small gasp came from the inky creature as he suddenly almost began vibrating with joy.

“You… Your hair is messier than it was before.” Sammy spoke up suddenly.

Henry’s eyes widened. The thudding in his head was getting worse, so Sammy’s words came out a bit echoed, but he still heard every word of it. The tears settling into his eyes began to fall freely, slowly at first then quicker.

“Y-You’re name was- It was- H… Hailey… No, wait- it was Henry!!” Sammy shrieked with pure joy, pulling Henry’s shoulders up as he got off of him to sit him up. “Henry, I remember now! I remember you!”

He sat Henry up, who was still in shock. “You… Remember me.” He repeated softly. Sammy nodded furiously.

“It’s been so god damn long since I’ve remembered anything new about anything, Hen. I- Oh god, my lord will be so happy to- oh god, my lord- I can worry about that later. Why… Why did you come back?” _already back to using pet names_ , Henry thought in a daze. That was cute. _Maybe I do have some sort of concussion after all,_ he pondered. Finally dragging his hand up to the back of his head, he patted a damp spot where it hurt the most. Oh- that wasn’t ink. That was definitely blood. Sammy didn’t seem to notice though in his newfound excitement.

“Henry I- I’ve missed you so much without even realizing it- I’m… I’m so lonely down here. I missed you,” he took Henry’s hand, which was surprisingly cold even in comparison to the music director’s own, “why did you leave?” he asked slowly, black goop falling from behind the mask. Henry tried to respond, failed, and then tried again.

“I…” he stopped again. Oh god the room was spinning so much why was it spinning so much?? It hurt his head hurt so badly he could hardly focus on anything else, “… Had to.”

That was when Sammy perked up. “How am I going to explain this to my Lord? Bendy will not be pleased that I’ve messed with his little sheep- oh no he won’t- “ he stopped suddenly and looked at Henry closely. “-Henry?”

Henry tried to focus, but at this point his mind was so frizzled he couldn’t care to respond past a mumble. “Nry…? Y… He…” Sammy’s voice went in and out, and the animator found his eyes closing against his will.

“Hen… Sta..ith me…”

 

 

When the throbbing in his head became apparent again, Henry wondered how long it would take this time for the Ink Demon to come. He’d wasted time, after all, and if Sammy’s sacrifice needed to go on then it would probably go on sooner this time. He still felt so, so tired though- but even as he tried to force himself to drift back to sleep he found that his body decided he was awake now, regardless of how he or his head felt about it.

At first he didn’t bother opening his eyes. Sammy was probably waiting in front of him as usual, and right now he did _not_ want to look at him. Not after how close he came to… Saving him? Was it saving, or simply something he tried when he got bored? _That’s not the point_ , he reminded himself sharply. What was the point was that he was going to have to escape again- just like the last fortieth times. Or he could let Bendy get to him, but he always just ended up killing him before he could drag him to the machine.

Trust him, he tried to do that many times. Bendy was just too violent to do anything remotely productive- always snapping his neck before he was even halfway there. Which annoyed Henry to no end, but he was far past being annoyed endlessly at this point.

As nothing but silence filled the room for the next few long moments, he risked squinting his eyes. It made his head throb to open them so they instinctively closed. He brought a hand up to rub his eyes. Wait- brought a hand up? Shouldn’t he have been tied up at this point? He forced his eyes open again, finding the room a lot easier to see now. It wasn’t anything like what he’d expected at all. The room seemed to be some sort of old office Henry didn’t remember having existed, with posters of the episodes that debuted posted all over the walls. A desk sat right beside him, where he was sitting on a rather couch. The desk had piles of records on it and an old record player sat in the opposite corner to Henry, silent.

Candles lit the room in a soft glow and Henry couldn’t help but recognize the tune of “Lighter Side of Hell” playing quietly on an old radio.

Was this where Sammy had been living? Holy shit it was aesthetic. Henry managed to move his head to look around for Sammy, but the throbbing was so bad he wanted to just sleep again. Of course, since that wasn’t happening and he did remember one cycle where he was stupid and caused the most trouble for himself he could (he got very bored you see) he ended up forcing himself onto his feet.

As he reached out to grip the desk and lean over it cause wow his head _hurt_ , the only door in the room swung open, revealing none other than Sammy. He slipped in and stopped, staring at Henry with his arm full of cans of Bacon Soup.

There was an awkward silence for a moment as they stared at each other, each one discerning exactly what was happening. Henry was the first to speak up. “Um, where the hell am I?” his voice was hoarse and dry.

Sammy simply shook his head as he closed the door with his foot (pants leg?) and set the soup onto the table. “This is my home. No one comes here except me, music… And now, I suppose, you.” He answered solemnly. Henry wobbled a little as he tried to stabilize himself, the room spinning slightly.

“It’s… Pretty.” He complimented as best he could right now. Sammy huffed what could be considered a laugh.

“I did my best with what I had on hand. Sit back down before you fall.” The music director commented. “I’ve done enough dragging you around.”

Henry eyed him cautiously at that, but sat back down on the stiff sofa. Sammy picked up the playing radio and sighed. “I ran into my Lord. He’s looking for you.”

“Well, to be honest I had expected to wake up strapped to a chair to be sacrificed to him, so I can’t say I’m surprised.” Henry half joked, but Sammy’s head shot up.

“Excuse me what?”

“What?”

Sammy shook his head instead of prompting him further. “No matter. I know Bendy is a good leader but… I think for the first time I’m questioning his judgement. He wants to drag you into our inky abyss, but…”

                Henry would have smiled if it didn’t hurt his head so much. This whole matter amused him to no end- not only was it new but Sammy… Actually went against his lord that quickly? That was really something!

                “Why do you think he wants me?” Henry asked. He wondered what he could learn about him now- it might make future cycles more interesting. Sammy didn’t respond right away.

                “He… Could want you for many reasons. You’re imperfect- he would make you like me.”

                “And you’re perfect?” Henry teased.

                “I- That is not the point! This inky body is far more gifted than that of a soft mortal.”

                “But you don’t want to be trapped like that anymore, do you.” Henry stated. He remembered Sammy saying something about it in almost all of his previous cycles. He knew better than to believe the music director’s thin lie.

                Said inky creature tensed up. After a few long moments his shoulders slumped and he dropped down on the couch beside Henry. It hurt his brain to move, but he shifted around so Sammy would have more room.

                “I’m right though, aren’t I? You know I was always able to see through you like that.” The animator commented slyly.

                “… I remember that _very_ vaguely, thank you. I think… I think my Lord is just a little distracted. It’s been so long since something new happened here that he… He was troubled with it.”

                The director shuffled around so that his body was further in the corner of the couch, arms crossed- he was wording his next sentence carefully.

                “Enough talk of Bendy. I don’t want him to find you here, not yet. It’s… It’s been a long, long while Henry. What…” he almost seemed afraid to ask. “What year is it?”

                For a second Henry didn’t respond. Sammy already seemed mentally frail as is; would he be able to take the information?

                “Well, um, a lot has happened, to say the least. After I left the war was raging on, Linda got sick, the economy got worse, realized I didn’t like girls as much as-“

                “You’re avoiding the question.”

                “…It’s 1965.”

                Sammy didn’t react. “Well, now I should probably ask what year it was when you left. I can’t remember any of those things.”

                “Oh- uh, 1939. It’s been almost thirty years.”

                “Oh.”

                Just ‘oh’. Then Sammy abruptly swung his legs up and over Henry’s lap- who wasn’t quite sure how to react. He just stared as it happened and tried to brush it off, but his mind was wildly taking notes for the next time he managed to make Sammy this friendly.

                “It’s a great thing my perception of time is shit down here.” The music director commented nonchalantly. Oh, that’s why he wasn’t reacting much. “I remember I was… Thirty… Something. Forty? So it’s been a long time. It’s felt like a long time.”

                “Yeah, it has been.” Henry replied sadly. “Too long. I should’ve come back for you all sooner.”

                Sammy shook his head slightly, although it looked more intense with the mask on. “Don’t blame yourself. How did… How did you end up here anyways? I didn’t think anything would ever change.”

                “I got a letter- you?”

                “You could say I came with a friend. God, I haven’t thought about that in a while…” Sammy commented. He made an effort to get more comfortable on the stiff couch, going so far as to shift into it further, causing more of his pants legs to lay on Henry. He still didn’t say anything, because fuck it why not. Suddenly, Sammy erupted into what sounded like laughter, but it was hoarse.

                “…I haven’t been able to think this clear in so, so long! When I remembered you, I don’t know, I guess something in my mind just snapped- and everything has been clearing up. It’s like the fog that this studio shoved into my brain is finally dissipating thanks to you.” He could tell the ink creature would be crying if he could. “I- I’ve been remembering other employees, too! Jack, Grant, Shawn, everyone! I’m remembering who’s who in the studio now and- maybe I can help you get out!” the words flew from Sammy with such determination that the animator didn’t have the heart to lower his hopes. Especially after the last comment…

                Instead, he patted one of Sammy’s legs that had flopped onto him. “You have no idea how happy that makes me, Sammy. It’s been so lonely down here, but maybe, now you and I have company we can enjoy.” Henry smiled, genuinely, for the first time in a while.


End file.
